Love most unlikely
by CookieLizard
Summary: Seven chapters, seven years at Hogwarts. Despite their fathers' past the acquaintance of Albus and Scorpius becomes friendship, or perhaps, even something more... Rated T just in case. Features mild slash.
1. Year one

When the parents were out of sight and the train had left the station, Albus tore himself away from the window and moved in search of a free compartment. James rushed to his friends, and Rose suddenly disappeared. He called her a couple of times, but having not received the answer, he picked up his search again.

Finally, he found the compartment. The only one that was free. _Almost_ empty. The only person sitting inside, was a boy with very bright blonde hair, who was looking out of the window, immersed in melancholy.

Albus hesitated. He knew, that his uncle would suffocate him, if he went into the compartment, which Draco Malfoy's son was in, but on the other hand – was he supposed to wander around the train in search of an empty compartment, he did not even know he would find? He shook his head, letting the vision of his uncle go, and opened the door.

'Is it free here?' he asked.

Scorpius lazily shifted his silvery eyes gaze to him. A quick flash of surprise appeared in his eyes, when he saw Albus Potter, but then he assumed an indifferent expression and nodded.

Albus still stood there, awkwardly, not knowing whether he should came in or ask if the boy didn't mind. He decided to ask.

'And um…?'

'Sit.', he interrupted, with a delicate shadow of a smile.

Albus sat opposite him. After a several minutes of a strained silence, he gathered the Gryffindor courage which ran through his veins, and he tried to start a conversation.

'So, um… Scorpius, right? I'm Albus Potter.' , he begun hesitantly and stretched out his hand.

The boy looked at him, without moving any part of his body. After a while, he nodded, as if he was trying to say "I know".

'Yes. I'm Scorpius. Malfoy.', he finally shook Albus' hand, who, by the way, was dying of embarrassment 'Nice to meet you'.

Albus relaxed a little, seeing, that Malfoy's eyes weren't full of icy despise, but were looking at him with the mix of curiosity and nonchalance.

'So, Scorpius' he rebuked himself for starting a sentence with "So" again 'Stressed with the first day?'

He had no idea, what on earth made him asked that, since Scorpius' face, was reflecting anything but stress. Actually, his face wasn't reflecting anything. To his deepest surprise, after a while, Scorpius replied, 'To be honest… Yes. A bit…'

'Oh…', Albus managed to say, and after that, he realized, how stupid he must had sounded, and how stupid he looked. He got over it, and continued the conversation, 'Do you know what house would you like to be in?'

Scorpius suddenly faded.

'You know… I don't really have a choice. I mean. It's rather certain, that I'll be in Slytherin.'

'Why?'

'All Malfoys are always in Slytherin… It's like the matter of principals.'

'Why don't you want to end up there?', asked Albus, but he might as well have asked himself the same question.

'I'm not saying I don't want to…', he said with the tone suggesting that he doesn't want to talk about it. Yet Albus kept going.

'Slytherin isn't so bad after all! It's the house of Merlin himself!'

Scorpius nodded, although he still appeared to be unconvinced.

For the following couple of minutes, Albus continued listing advantages of being a Slytherin, and suddenly with surprise, he found himself convincing a Malfoy, the member of a family, bounded to Slytherin for ages, about the virtues of this house. What more, as long as he was persuading Scorpius, he himself started to think, that maybe, being a Slytherin isn't so bad after all… He remembered what his father had told him about the Hat though – that it always takes a candidate's will under consideration. Although, for some reason, he didn't want to share that fact with Scorpius.

'Would you like to be in Slytherin?', asked Scorpius suddenly.

'Um…', started Albus, but then, the door opened, sparing him from this awkward question.

'Albus! I've been looking for you everywhere!', Rose seemed happy to see her cousin, but she narrowed her eyes, when she saw his companion. 'Um… I've just been with Dominique and her friends. Want to join us?', she asked, forcing herself to sound polite, but Albus knew, she wanted to shout: "Albus, you idiot, what are you doing with _him_? You must go with me. Now!"

'No, thanks Rose.', he answered a bit colder than he meant to. 'Maybe you'd like to join us?'

He knew that Rose's prejudice is not her fault – that's how she'd been brought up. He was hoping that if she talked with Scorpius (who he found to be a very nice, yet a bit shy) for a moment, she would see, that his name doesn't reflect his character.

From Rose's face, you could clearly see that she was fighting with her thoughts. She bit her lip. Albus knew what that was all about. She didn't want to be in the same room as Scorpius Malfoy, but then she wanted to have an eye on Albus and make sure he didn't befriend him too much. Finally, she decided.

'Okay, as a matter of fact, why not…'

And she sat down next to Albus, not paying attention to the other boy.

'Rose… meet Scorpius. Scorpius. That is Rose. My cousin.'

Rose greeted him with a grimace which, according to her, was supposed to be a smile. Scorpius grinned.

'I suppose, you must know a lot about me, just from my name, right?', he spoke to Rose, calmly 'Anyway, it's nice to meet you.'

Rose blinked quickly, shocked by his composure and straightforwardness. Albus chuckled.

'C'mon Rose!', he said, smiling to her and nudging softly.

Rose moved her cold stare from Albus to Scorpius. She stretched out her hand.

'Rose Weasley.', she said, accenting her last name 'It is… good to meet you to."

Scorpius smiled, and shook her hand.

The longer they were going, the more Scorpius acknowledged that Rose didn't like him, and Albus was an especially nice person. There was something in this boy that was intriguing him, and he was really looking forward to see how this acquaintance will develop.

After a few hours the train began to slow down and they changed into their school robes.

When they came out on Hogsmeade station, Scorpius heard a loud voice, calling 'Firs'-years! Firs'-years over here!' He saw a large, bearded person. He reckoned that he must be Hagrid, the one that Albus had told him about.

He stood in front of the giant, alongside Potter. Surprise appeared on Hagrid's face, when he saw Albus' companion, but he didn't say anything.

The crossing across the lake went quickly, due to the fact that the rain, lashing down hard before, calmed down.

Scorpius soon found himself standing in the group of first-years, waiting for the Sorting Ceremony to begin.

Each consecutive person walked to the chair. Three Gryffindors, two Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs were sorted so far. No Slytherin. Was he about to be the first?

'Malfoy, Scorpius!'

Whispers reverberated. When he faced the crowd, he noticed with relief that most faces expressed curiosity, not anger.

'Malfoy… Another Malfoy…', he heard a whisper in his head, when the Sorting Hat was placed on his head 'I can see a lot of ambition here and… and intelligence, yes… You are a perfect match for Slytherin, but you could find yourself perfectly in Ravenclaw as well…'

Scorpius' heart started beating faster. He didn't expect the Hat to devote even a little time for debating where to put him. And to be honest, from time to time, he thought, that it would be nice, to be in Ravenclaw…

Suddenly, he looked at Albus. He was reminded of all the things he'd said about Slytherin. He saw both of them as Slytherins, and felt a strange warmth on his heart…

'SLYTHERIN!'

The Sorting Hat, shouted it loud and so suddenly, that Scorpius jumped with surprise. So after all…

He staggered to the table situated next to the left wall of the room, giving Albus a smile when he walked pass. He was clapping along with the Slytherins.

Scorpius sat down and waited impatiently. A few hands patted him on his back with pride. At last, Albus approached the chair. Scorpius' insides writhed with nerves. And finally…

"So Scorpius is in Slytherin after all…", thought Albus, "Interesting…".

He stood there deep in thoughts about his new friend. Even when he heard his name, he didn't stop thinking. He completely forgot that he was supposed to ask the Hat for sorting into the Gryffindor. The only thing, he was capable of focusing on was the fact that Scorpius was in Slytherin… And how great it would be if they were there together. He could hear the Sorting Hat's voice in his head, but he didn't care about anything it was saying. He glanced at the Slytherin table, and saw silver eyes, watching him in suspense. Yes…

He could feel it. He knew it, before the Sorting Hat announced it to the whole Great Hall.

Albus stood up with a grin, and sat down next to happy, but still white from fright Scorpius.

He saw that at the table on the opposite side of the Hall, James looked as if he was petrified but he couldn't care less.

Soon, another shock, although not as big as Potter in Slytherin, was Rose, who got sorted into Ravenclaw, as the first from the Weasley family.

Rose, a bit frightened, a bit happy, joined the table, next to the Gryffindor one.

The Sorting Ceremony ended soon enough and after a hearty feast, Al found himself in the Slytherin first-years' dormitory. He liked it in there. He knew he wouldn't regret it.


	2. Year two

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* * *

><p>'Scorp… What if I make an idiot of myself?'<p>

'No, you won't, for the simple reason, that you already are one…'

Scorpius rolled his eyes and lay down on the grass, full of irritation. He liked Albus very much, but when he talked like this, he wanted to hit him on the head with a book.

'Thanks Scorp, it's good to know that you have a faith in me.', replied Albus, with a small laugh.

'Al… Seriously… Your dad is a legend. Has only James inherited all of your parents' self-confidence?'

Albus chuckled.

'Looks like it… But that's the point Scorp! My dad is a legend, my brother is a star, so what if it turns out that I'm useless?'

'Merlin's beard, Al…', Scorpius lifted himself on his elbows, and pierced the dark-haired boy with a glance of his silvery eyes, 'You got into the team, right? You were the one they chose, right? You really think that they would have chosen you if you were useless?'

'Um… No…'

'Exactly.', Scorpius' put on a more gentle expression, 'It will be okay Al, you'll see.'

He smiled at his friend. Albus looked at him with gratitude in his eyes, and smiled back. After a while they heard someone calling them: 'Al! Scorp!'

Rose was heading towards the tree which they were sitting under, walking very fast. Scorpius smiled, remembering how last year, she wouldn't had even spoken to him. Luckily, thanks to Albus constantly trying to get her to be around Scorpius as much as possible, she had finally given up and had started looking at him much more favourably.

'What's up Rosie?', asked Albus

'I've got a letter from mum! She says, that everyone's going to come here tomorrow, isn't it wonderful?'

Rose was in raptures, whereas Albus suddenly got paler than Scorpius has ever seen.

'What… What do you mean everyone?', he managed to say.

'Our parents! Hugo and Lily are staying with grandma Molly, because mum reckons that they should not see Hogwarts for the first time now, but wait until next year'

If Albus had been pale before, Scorpius didn't know the shade of white, which could describe the colour of his face at that moment. His eyes opened widely and he was silent with fear.

'Al? Aal!', Rose waved her hand in front of his eyes, 'Al, are you alright?'

Al looked as if he'd been petrified, and couldn't say a word.

'I think it's just because of the joy he felt when thinking about seeing his parents again…', said Scorpius with a smile, 'Al?', he shook him a little.

'I resign.', mumbled Al, 'I resign, dad cannot see this, and especially… _Mum_…

Rose's face flashed an expression of understanding. In a split second she became serious.

'Albus Severus Potter', she said firmly, 'You must stop saying such things right now. You will not resign out of anything and tomorrow your parents and James will see what you can do'

His brother's name, worked on Albus as a catalyst. His nerves receded, and a sudden flash appeared in his eyes.

'Yeah…', he stood up suddenly, 'Yes, you're right. They will. Thanks Rose, Scorp… Uh, what would I do without you?…'

'Oh stop it, or I'll burst into tears…', teased Rose, but she tousled his dark hair with tenderness.

Scorpius just smiled, shyly. On the way back to the castle, he was strangely worried. He wanted Albus to win very much, though he had never really cared about the Quidditch at all. He couldn't resist a feeling, that the score of tomorrows match, would have a strong impact on something.

* * *

><p>On the day of the match, Albus was stressed more that he'd been in his entire life, although no one would know. He barely remembered what had happened until they came out on the pitch. The Captains of Slytherin and Hufflepuff shook hands.<p>

The sound of a whistle rang out.

The moment Albus soared from the ground, was the moment when all of his fears disappeared. He made a few laps over the pitch, and then flew a bit higher than the rest of the team, and hung in the air. The Quaffle went up. The game was on.

For a long time Albus was circulating above the rest of the players, in search of a golden ball.

Soon, Slytherins scored.

The Snitch was still out of sight. Al was also trying to see a pale blonde head in the crowd below. When he thought he saw it, he calmed down a bit more.

He reminded himself about the parents. He hadn't known what they had been saying to him before the match, all he had felt, was patting on the back.

The sound of another score pierced the air. Hufflepuffs equalised.

Suddenly Al saw a small, golden fleck near Hufflepuff's left loop. He started to fly towards it, but a Bludger swished in front of his eyes. When he looked again, the ball was gone.

Angry, he started to circle around the pitch once again.

Hufflepuffs scored twenty more points.

After a while, Slytherins scored.

And then, the Snitch appeared for the second time. Very low, near the earth. Albus didn't take much time to think. He dived, flying fast like a sparrowhawk after its pray . The only thing he was thinking about was to make it as quickly as possible. He didn't know where the other seeker was, his thoughts were wrapped around this little ball, fluttering it's wings, waiting for him to catch it.

He felt his palm, clasping around the Snitch. He pulled his broom up.

And suddenly, without a warning, he felt a blinding and paralysing pain in his back.

He heard the referee's whistle and darkness surrounded him.

* * *

><p>The first thing he noticed, when he woke up, was Scorpius' worried face. He felt better at the sight of his friend. Then, he saw his parents and James, and his aunt and uncle with Rose. Everyone seemed to be a bit scared, but they cheered up when they saw his eyes open.<p>

'What…?'

'Bludger', said Scorp weakly, 'Smith had beaten it towards you, just before you caught the Snitch…'

Albus lay down on the pillows, embarrassed. To his greatest surprise, he heard his father's laugh.

'Son, don't you remember that on my first match, I almost swallowed the Snitch? _Swallowed_…'

Al looked at him with a shadow of a smile.

'Besides, that diving you performed… Amazing feat.', mum cut in, 'You might be the youngest player ever who has succeeded to dive so fast, and so low, and straighten up his broom after. Bravo.'

'Yes!', said Rose suddenly, 'That's what Mrs Hooch said. The youngest player… Everyone is very impressed Al!'

Albus relaxed a little.

'Yeah, all perfect little bro, but watch out the Bludgers next time, because I don't want to win easily…', said James

'I categorically state that we'll win even if get hit by the Bludger in the first minute of the match…', answered Al with a smile.

Corners of James' mouth raised a little, 'Challenge accepted'.

After a while Mrs Pomfrey, chased them away. She stayed firm, even when dad tried to butter her up, by thanking her for taking care of him, when he'd been at Hogwarts.

Albus lay down on his pillows, needing to sleep. He couldn't wait to talk about the match with Scorpius.


	3. Year three

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><em>Enjoy ;)<em>

'Hufflepuff!'

Albus watched with his heart beating fast, as his terrified and clearly unsatisfied cousin Hugo walked lazily towards the Hufflepuff's table. Although he, personally considered Hufflepuff as a nice house, he knew that his cousin had been counting on being sorted into Gryffindor. On the other hand, Al had been counting on it to, but he had ended up in Slytherin and he felt more than happy about it. He was sure, Hugo would find himself in Hufflepuff as quickly, with a small pep talk first, though. His cousin sat down next to Louis with a shiny Prefect's badge, who patted his back with pride. Dominique and James, on the other hand, were looking at him from Gryffindor's table with disappointment.

Seeing James' expression, Albus grinned. After Lilly took a seat next to Rose at the Ravenclaw table, James was surely counting that at least Hugo will join him in Gryffindor. Albus was very pleased about his sister's sorting. It was partly, because his selfish part really didn't want him to be the only non-Gryffindor person in the family, mainly to cause James to keep quiet and stop praising 'Lion's house' at every occasion.

'Disappointed?', asked Scorpius suddenly

'Why?'

'Because Hugo is in Hufflepuff'

Al laughed.

'Why would I be? It's a good house. I'm sure he'll fit in easily and he has Louis.'

Scorp side-smiled.

'What?', asked Al.

'No, nothing…', Scorp smiled wider

'Scorpius.', Al narrowed his eyes.

'Are you persuading me or yourself?', he said with a playful flash in his eyes.

'You! Although, you have a point, I'm persuading myself as well… It's just, I know how much he's been counting on Gryffindor, and I'm a bit worried…'

'What about Lily?'

'What about her?'

'Didn't he want to be in Gryffindor?'

Albus laughed again. He looked at his overjoyed sister.

'Since Rose has been sorted into Ravenclaw, Lily's been talking about nothing else…'

* * *

><p>'C'mon Scorp!'<p>

'No.'

'C'mon, don't make me beg you…'

'No.'

'Scoooorp…'

'No Albus, you won't talk me into this. Besides. I'd prefer to watch you…', he said and instantly flushed. Albus just smiled and shrugged.

'Oh, whatever… But you have to try it one day.', he said with a wink.

'No I don't.', answered Scorp, crossing his arms over his chest.

'We'll see. What about you, Rose? Perhaps, you're more willing?'

'Don't even start with me Al…'

'Uh… You're both such a bores… See you later then!'

He walked away, towards the rest of the Slytherin Quidditch team. It was a warm day, so Rose and Scorpius had gone out with books to watch their practice. But then Al suddenly had decided to try to persuade them into flying on a broom.

'We're lucky, that they're waiting for him, because otherwise he would never back down…', mumbled Rose, opening her History of Magic course book.

'You've really never tried?', asked Scorp

'Flying? Nope. I think I've inherited it from my mum, I deeply hate broomsticks… What about you? Your father used to play…', she asked, and although Scorp knew that she'd rather pretend that he didn't have a father, she showed little sign of being concerned by it.

'You see… Father played presumably only to have another opportunity to try to be better than everyone else. He was never especially passionate, like Al, James or their dad.

Rose nodded, and then, hesitantly, she said: 'You know… I… I think, that if your father had had a choice, he would have chosen a completely different path…'

Scorpius opened his eyes with surprise. Has Rose really just said something almost positive about Draco Malfoy?

'What…?'

'See… My point is, that he could have been a completely different person. But he didn't have a choice. Dad always used to say, how horrible your father was at school, and I believed him blindly, never really giving it a second thought. But now, I look at you… You've had a choice, and you are pretty bearable', she winked, 'And you inherited a lot from your father, for sure. So, that's why I've finally understood.', she finished with a shy smile.

'Wow… When did you get so smart?'

She hit him delicately on the shoulder and they both burst out laughing.

'I have always been smart, but never appreciated.', she said with fake indignation.

'Oh Rosie, enough with this pity party!', they suddenly heard Lily's voice.

'I'm not throwing a pity party… What's up Lils?'

'This friend of yours… Mary is looking for you… I think she's having a hard time with a homework for Slughorn…'

Rose rolled her eyes, and stood up with reluctance.

'Uh… Well, my friends, duty calls. See you later!'

'Don't you want to play?', asked Lily, when Rose walked away. He looked at her, surprised by the ease with which she was talking to him. She hadn't known him for long, after all, and she was younger. He couldn't recall himself talking to somebody with such ease, when he was her age. Well… Maybe except Albus. With Al things always seemed to be a bit different… 'Um, Scorp?'

'What? Oh, yes, sorry. No, not really my sort of interest. You?'

'Oh yes! I think it's a Potter thing – Quidditch. I would love to play for the team next year.'

'As a Seeker?'

'No… I think Al and dad sort of ran out of talent for seekers in the family.', she winked with a smile, 'And I don't want to be a Keeper like James. I thing I'll follow my mum's footsteps and become a Chaser.'

Her eyes were eagerly observing emerald spots, whizzing in the air.

'Well, good luck then.'

'Thanks.', she grinned, 'You're much more different than a typical Malfoy is supposed to be.'

Scorpius chuckled.

'Yeah… I hear that all the time lately. Is that a compliment?'

She shrugged and smiled.

'I suppose.'

Scorpius noticed that her eyes, although hidden behind rectangular glasses, had the same shade of deep green as Albus'. "Why do I think about Albus' eyes?", he thought to himself. He shook his head, banished the vision of Al from his head.

'Thank you then', he winked to her

'Are you waiting for Al to finish? I think I will be heading back, because I'm meeting Hugo in a library. I completely don't get Softening Charm! I know, I know, I'm supposed to know everything,', she added, seeing his surprise, 'But trust me, Ravenclaws also are human beings!', she finished, grinning.

Scorpius laughed.

'I know that! Don't worry, I don't think in stereotypes.'

'Good.', she winked, 'See you later then.'

Scorpius watched her walking away, her chestnut hair waving in the wind, behind her. He smiled to himself, and got back to the 'Witch hunting' chapter.


	4. Year four

On their Friday lessons of Potions, Slytherins and Gryffindors were usually especially absent-minded, since it was the last lesson of the week.

On this particular day, the atmosphere was even more relaxed, because of the upcoming Quidditch final match – Slytherin vs. Ravenclaw. Professor Slughorn, however, looked as if he was not aware of the fact that no one was focused on their work, since he had given them an exceptionally hard potion to brew.

'…so I'm telling James, that he should stick the Bludger… you know where, and he bursts out laughing, and says, that if I even _see _the Snitch tomorrow, he will do it. I'd love to see that. He is very bitter, because of their loss against us, you know, but what can I do, we were simply better, that's it. It's funny, because…'

'Um… Al?'

'…and know he's the one, who's left out in the cold, and we have advantage…'

'Al!'

'…but he asked for it. I'm not sorry, since…'

'Albus!'

'…he's an idiot, and that's it. He can't see the Quaffle, even when it's in front of his eyes, so he loses points.', he stopped the volley of words at last, 'Did you say something?'

'You're adding a completely coincidental ingredient! You'll create artificial intelligence in a minute…'

'Oh, how wonderful would that be, I could give some to James…'

'Al!'

'Okay, I'm sorry. But tomorrow's the final! You have no idea how excited I am.'

'Trust me, I can imagine.'

Scorp grinned, and Al smiled back. Looking at Scorpius, he suddenly became serious, because he wondered, why Scorpius even wanted to be friends with him. He would understand, if Scorp befriended him after his first match, like a lot of people did, but he has been his friend since the beginning, before Al was popular, and liked. They were complete opposites, and today's lesson was a perfect example – Al talkative, absent-minded, self-confident, Scorp usually reticent, focused on his work, secretive. Actually (Al smiled to himself again), silent and shy with other people Scorp, could sometimes become very talkative and so confident with Albus…

'What?', asked his friend, seeing Al's sudden smile

'Nothing Scorp, you're just adorable.', he answered and winked. Scorpius immediately flushed, what brought Albus' attention on what he said and how it must have sounded. He instantly called himself every insult he knew. He didn't have much time to punish himself for this particularly stupid sentence, because in a split second, something made him freeze.

The potion, brewing so carelessly by Al, blew up, but because of a unique selection of ingredients, it didn't splash around, but flew out in the air, formed a ball, and fell down. Right on Scorpius.

* * *

><p>When (to his misfortune) Scorpius woke up, he wanted to scream. He had never felt such an incredible pain. He thought, that he'd been skinned, or burned. He couldn't scream though. He didn't have power to produce a single sound from his throat. Opening his eyes turned out to be horribly difficult as well. He managed to raise his eyelids just a little. It was enough to see Albus, sitting next to the bed, his face buried in his hands. He tried again, to let out some sound.<p>

'A… Al…"

It was enough. His friend looked at him rapidly. His eyes were red and puffy.

'Scorp… Merlin's… I thought…', he hesitated, 'But it's okay now. I'm so sorry, Scorp…'

He wanted so much to tell him that everything was fine, and that he shouldn't worry… But the only thing he managed to let out was a quiet moan. And then, everything blurred again.

* * *

><p>'If Snape was still teaching, it wouldn't have happened.'<p>

'Mister Malfoy…'

'What?! Slughorn may had been good a long time ago, but, honestly, he's clearly grown old. How could he allow students to be so absent-minded? On a lesson with such a difficult subject? The Board of Governors will certainly find out about it. Ah, if my father heard about this…

'Draco…'

'Right, sweetheart, he probably wouldn't give a damn…'

There was an awkward silence after this. Albus couldn't help but overhearing this conversation, because to be honest, it was very hard not to hear it. When he'd found out about his son's accident, Draco Malfoy came to school the next morning and started an argument right away. He was just talking (well, it was hard to call it a talk…) to Madam Pomfrey in her office. From what else Albus heard, it looked like Mr Malfoy was about to meet headmistress McGonagall in a moment. He supposedly hadn't talked to Slughorn yet, but from the tone of his voice, Albus deduced that it would probably be better if he didn't.

Of course, he had been waiting until Mr Malfoy would destroy him – it was he, after all, who had been responsible for whole situation. He felt a squeeze in his stomach when he thought about it. Not about the destroying part… He looked at Scorpius. He seemed to be so calm. All his body, including his head, was covered with bandages. Albus preferred not to think about the agonies his friend must had been going through. He had been sleeping peacefully for the whole day, not counting the one brief moment when he had woke up. But even that short time had given Albus the hope, he had so desperately needed. Before that he hadn't even known, whether his friend would wake up… According to Madam Pomfrey, everything would be okay, but at the very beginning, it might had been that Scorpius would be transferred to St Mungo's. Albus didn't know who, or what to thank that it had not happened.

He reminded himself about Scorpius' father. He didn't feel fear. He deserved every punishment. He had already been given a ton of detentions and his performance in the Quidditch match was under consideration. But none of it mattered. He doubted that he would not play, since the match was about to happen, and there was no other Seeker who could replace him. But honestly, he'd rather stay here with Scorp, than play.

He'd never felt so terrible before. He hadn't slept for the whole night. He hadn't felt like it and even if he had, he couldn't.

The screen opened, but instead of seeing Mr Malfoy's angry face, he saw bushy red hair, right next to a head of bushy chestnut.

Rose's eyes were red and puffed from crying, Lily however, despite an unusual for her serious face, didn't express any signs of grief. Albus knew why. Their mother was exactly the same.

'Oh… Al…', Rose approached and sat next to Albus, hugging him.

'It'll be fine Rosie…', he said, trying to calm her down, but failing miserably, his voice breaking down. He stroked his friend's head, hugging her tighter.

'He will get out of it.', said Lily quietly, 'Al… We have a match to play…'

'I don't want to…'

'Al.', she stretched out her hand, 'Come and play. And win it. For him.', she looked at Scorpius with sad eyes.

Al stood up. "I will come back here.", he thought, "I will come back here, with a Quidditch cup for you."

'Are you…?', he wanted to ask Rose, but she answered before he finished: 'Yes, I'll stay with him. You go and…', her voice broke down, and she couldn't say anything else.

Al gave a last glance at his friend, and followed his sister out of the screen.

* * *

><p>Someone was shouting. Someone was sobbing quietly. "Is that Albus? No, please, don't let this be Albus crying… Not because of me…", Scorpius thought. He managed to raise his eyelids a little. Red hair… Rose. He felt relief and a small amount of disappointment at the same time. Rose was as much of a friend to him, as Albus was, after all. Yet Rose wasn't Al. Al meant something more…<p>

Was it possible?... He combined all facts. He'd never been interested with any girl. He was only fifteen of course, but he'd heard his friends exchanging opinions about girls. He'd never been bothered. He hadn't had anything to say. The person with whom he'd been feeling the best was Al. He could gossip with Rose on every subject – from jewellery, to cosmetics, and to new fashion trends. Talking to Rose hadn't given him that feeling of fulfilment and inner calm, which a conversation with Albus had.

Was it really possible, that…?

'Rose?', he heard a voice that sounded familiar.

'Mister Potter!', said Rose in a small hoarse voice.

'I've just got here… Where's Albus?'

'He's playing a match…'

Scorpius felt a selfish feeling of regret. So Albus had chosen the match… He shouldn't be surprised, but delicately and irrationally it made him sad. Mr Potter thought probably about something similar.

'What do you mean "He's playing a match"?', he asked, sharply.

'No, no… He didn't have a choice… They hadn't found a replacement.', Scorpius cheered up a little, ' Anyway, he didn't really want to go. He preferred to sit here. Lily talked him into it. He went to win this game… well, for Scorp.'

"What?", Scorpius asked in his thoughts. He felt as if some huge weight was sliding down his stomach. "Albus…". If he could open his eyes with surprise, he certainly would. And yet, Rose was going on, and he was freezing more and more.

'He was sitting here the whole night… And the whole day. Actually, I don't think he's ever left this room, since Scorp had been here.'

He could feel his heart beating faster. He wanted to find Albus, right now, and tell him to stop bothering about him and that he has to sleep! However, he'd never felt such happiness before. He was counting on Albus to give him a little attention, but this… He certainly hadn't seen that coming. He didn't know if his friend was doing it out of concern, or guilt. But it didn't matter. He was there.

'Potter.'

"What the…? No, please… Not…"

'Malfoy.'

'Would you like to explain to me, why is your son trying to kill mine?'

'Perhaps, I'll go…', whispered Rose, and when none of them denied, he pictured Mr Potter nodding, and his friend, slipping out through the screen.

"Oh no… They're going to kill each other…"

'No one is trying to kill anybody, Draco.'

'Oh, so we're on the first name terms now?'

'Don't you think it's a bit stupid…'

'What? Yes, I think it's stupid that your son is trying to kill mine!'

'Nobody is trying to kill anyone, you stubborn ferret…'

'Excuse me?'

Scorp could felt, that Mr Potter understood that he'd made a mistake.

'I'm sorry, I…'

And then, something which made Scorpius want to sit up and see for his own eyes, because he couldn't believe what he heard happened.

Has his father just… _laughed_?

Mister Potter probably also didn't get what happened.

'Um…?'

'Yes… That was a funny experience. Embarrassing, obviously, but funny.'

Scorpius could see Mr Potter's eyes, opened widely with deepest surprise.

'Um…'

'Don't look at me like that Potter! I've experienced a bit since that time. Some events make us look at other things in our life in a completely different way than we used to.', his father's voice was serious and official, not disdainful, 'So… Why is your son…?'

'He's not trying to kill him! Merlin's beard, Malfoy… It was an accident.'

'Oh, so I am Malfoy again?', Scorpius really couldn't believe it. Now his father has just teased Mr Potter. 'Anyway.', he said, before Mr Potter could answer, 'Another thing worth remembering. There's no such thing as an accident. Everything has it's reason.'

'Then you're going to have to look for it, because as I said, it was a common accident…'

'We'll see about it.'

Scorpius still couldn't believe that his father and Mr Potter were able to have a normal conversation. But then, his father had said something really important… Something that had been in Scorpius' mind as well. What if this accident was the beginning of something bigger? Genuinely speaking, he felt exactly like it was.

After a while, he drifted away again…

* * *

><p>"Bloody Snitch… Bloody match…"<p>

Albus was drifting in the air, looking for this damn, little ball. He didn't know if it was him, or if Ravenclaws were letting them win. It was very unlikely that Lily had missed two times in a row, and had dropped the ball once. He didn't hold it against her, he understood her, but he didn't want it. He hated it.

Slytherins were winning sixty to thirty.

Ravenclaws' Seeker seemed to be focused on the game and determined to catch the Snitch, so at least that was cheering Albus up a bit. He wanted to win on his own. For Scorpius.

Slytherin scored again.

And after a good couple of minutes he noticed Ravenclaws' Seeker, flying fast towards the golden ball. His heart skipped a beat, but he started flying in the same direction immediately. He was rushing up on his broom, impatiently.

After a while he levelled with his opponent.

The ball was on the reach of his hand…

* * *

><p>'Is he still asleep?'<p>

'Yeah…'

'It's been four days!'

'I know… He woke up a couple of times, but probably didn't understood much. Madam Pomfrey, however, says that now it should be better, so the more he sleeps, the better for him'

"Four days? It's already been four days?", thought Scorpius. He tried to open his eyes. To his surprise, he succeeded. He felt much better, in fact. His skin wasn't burning him anymore, although it still hurt and itched.

He felt warmth in his heart, when he saw Albus.

"Stupid… Stop reacting like this because of him…", he rebuked himself.

Albus was in the company of Rose, who was first to notice, that he had awoken.

'Al!... Scorp…!', she gasped, gripping Albus' shirt.

Albus raised his head, rapidly. Seeing his face, Scorpius was frightened nearly to death. Al had huge bags under his eyes, which looked, as if they'd sunken into the skull. His skin was sallow, and face looked tired. Yet he grinned widely, when he noticed that his friend was awake.

'Scorp! Merlin's beard… How do you feel?'

He wanted to answer, but all he could let out was a hoarsely screech. He cleared his throat and tried again.

'Much better, actually, thanks…'

'I don't know if you've heard…', Albus started shyly, 'We won!', he pointed to the cup, standing on the bed table, 'And… And that's for you Scorp. I'm so sorry…'

'Al… You don't have to… Really…'

'Al was sitting here all the time, Scorp. He wouldn't have gone to that match, if not to win for you.'

Was it him, or did Al blush a little? No, it was probably just his injured imagination…

'Rose was here as well!'

'But not so often. We were worried Scorp… You have no idea how hard it was. It was probably the first Madam Pomfrey's case, that was so serious.

'In fact… In fact, what actually happened?'

Scorp had just realized that he didn't remember the way, he'd been injured.

'I…', started Al, but his voice broke down.

'Al's potion exploded during the class.', helped Rose, 'Due to his outstanding talent, he created amazingly awful snot, which flew in the air, and then fell down on you, surrounding all your body with its tentacles. Firstly, it was extremely hot and secondly, it contained a lot of ingredients of a common poison, so… It sort of…'

'Burned my skin.'

'It was the scariest thing I'd ever seen…', whispered Al, 'You don't even know… Scorp, I could literally see your bones in some places…'

'Well, I'm so skinny, that you should be used to it by now…'

All of them laughed. Scorpius suddenly realized, how beautiful Albus' laugh sounded.

"Oh, c'mon, get a grip…", he rebuked himself again.

'I will go and let your fathers know that you awoke. They are sitting in the corridor right now, talking. Would you believe that? I mean… Actually… _talking_.

Scorp burst out laughing.

'Yeah, sounds unbelievable…'

Rose smiled to him on her way out. Scorp turned his glance to Al. For his sad eyes and expression, he'd figured out, what he'd been meaning to say, before he opened his mouth.

'Don't do that to yourself Al. Really. Everything's okay. I don't blame you. It was an accident.

'But if I had listened to you… If I hadn't been so stupid…'

'Al. Please.', he gave him a comforting smile.

And then, Al did something, what was perhaps an ordinary thing for him, but what made Scorpius' heart skip a beat – he delicately held his hand.

'I am seriously very sorry Scorp… And you really have no idea what a relief it is, that you are finally awake, and that you feel better…'

'Trust me, I can imagine…', he said, winking.

Albus was looking at him so intensively, that Scorpius felt his pulse speeding up. His touch, even through the bandages, was giving him shivers, and yet, he was hot. His skin was still hurting him, but it didn't matter. Al was here. All was well.

And then it hit him.

Maybe he wasn't very experienced with the feelings, maybe he was too young for it. But if anyone asked him about what love is , he would definitely describe what it as the way felt at this particular moment.


End file.
